Alternate Ending
by La Tua Cantante 13
Summary: I hate sad endings, so I changed it to be happy. Sappy but good.


A/N: I don't like sad endings. But I love this book. So I decided to make them one and the same hope you like it.

_End of the story_

What I wrote

_The sun was rising._

_They parted. Simon looked as if he might spring from the bench and run. She reached for him and he almost fled from her touch, but he turned back and took her hand again._

_He held ruthlessly still._

_They didn't dare look anywhere but at each other as the sun rose higher. He flinched. She held her breath._

_Then suddenly he was smiling. His face was lit by day for the first time in three hundred years, and also lit up by joy. He did not burn._

_She wanted to laugh but dared not break the spell._

_Instead, he began to fade. She held tighter, elation turned to dismay. Her fingers slid through his as if they were mist._

_But the look of delight did not change. "I think I'm free," he whispered. "All I had to do was go willingly."_

_She could barely see him now. He was just a shimmer, like ghostly heat rising from a long and lonely road. Her tears wouldn't stop. They flowed long after there was nothing but the memory of a faint voice._

_"I love you, Zoë."_

_It's up to me now, she thought. But somehow, it wasn't scary anymore._

"I love you too, Simon," she whispered. Somehow she knew that he had heard her. She didn't know how long she had sat there. But she couldn't make herself leave, she didn't want to leave. This was the last spot she saw Simon, all she had left of him besides the painting.

So she sat. She sat and thought of Simon. Of how he talked to her, of how he defended her, of how he held her. And of how he kissed her. Ahh… his kisses. No one's kisses would ever quite be the same as his. They wouldn't feel the same, they wouldn't taste the same. Nothing would ever be the same.

Then she realized that she wasn't the same. His love had changed her. He couldn't ever come back, but he would always be with her. His love coursed through her veins and he would never leave.

Zoë decided to stay just a few more minutes and bask in his love for just a little longer when the man that had been standing behind her approached. He had appeared behind her as soon as she said that she loved him and, not really grasping what had happened, had just stood there staring at her ever since.

He reached out his hand and gently placed on her shoulder, so cautiously, almost as if he were unsure if she would break at the slightest touch. Or perhaps he thought that if he touched her she would reveal herself to be a dream, one final cruel joke on his consciousness before he departed. To his relief, she didn't shatter, and she didn't dissolve, she whirled around and stared at him.

"Simon," she gasped. For a moment, they just stared at each other. Then she tackled him. He fell to the ground with a 'humph', with her landing on top of him and knocking the wind out of him. Clinging to him for dear life, for that is what she had just rediscovered and had no desire to loose again.

Before he had had the chance to catch his breath, she was kissing him with all the passion she could muster, and once he regained his senses, he kissed her back.

Eventually, they broke apart, gasping for air. They laid in silence for a while, just holding each other. Finely, she asked the question that had been plaguing both of their minds,

"How?"

"I don't know," he responded. "All I know is that I heard you say "I love you" and then I sort of materialized behind you. But feel this." He took her hand and placed it on his chest. Underneath her fingers she felt a faint but steady pulse. She gasped and locked eyes with him. "I'm human now," he whispered. "We can be together."

She kissed him again. When she got up, he nearly whimpered at the loss of contact. And when he stood up too, he hugged her close to him, just so he could feel her again.

"C'mon," she said, tugging on his hand. "Let's go back to my place." He chuckled but agreed. So they walked away from the park, hand in hand. Just happy to be together, again and forever.

-

Disclaimer: I do not own Simon, Zoë, or the world that they live in. I do not claim to have written or thought up any thing that was written in italics. That was an excerpt, taken directly from my own personal copy of the book. I do however, lay claim to the alternate ending, or everything that was not written in italict. It's mine!!!! Hands off!!!!!

A/N: Cheesy sappy and corny. Yes I know, but like I said, I hate sad endings. Review if you want.

See ya next time.

Unwanted and Unloved


End file.
